THE    TRUE    NEGRO    MUSIC   AND    ITS    DECLINE  1723 


m  f ntombmt 


Vol.  LV 


NEW  YORK,  THURSDAY,  JULY    23,    1903  No    2851 


The    True    Negro    Music    and    Its    Decline 

By  Jeannette  Robinson  Murphy 

[Mrs.  Murphy  is,  of  course,  a  Southerner.  She  has  therefore  been  familiar  with  the  negro  from 
chiidhood.  During  the  past  few  years  she  has  earned  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  portrayer  of 
negro  music  and  character  before  Northern  audiences,  and  those  of  us  who  have  heard  her  would  not 
hesitate  to  accord  her  the  very  foremost  rank  of  negro  foils  lorists. — Editor.] 


SOME  day  we  who  are  so  fortunate 
as  to  have  been  rocked  to  sleep  on 
the  broad,  tender  bosoms  of  old 
black  mammies  will  be  the  envy  of  our 
great-grandchildren.  There  is  a  danger 
that  they  will  clamor  in  vain  for  truthful 
representation  of  those  old  days  when 
loving  black  tyrants  ruled  and  reigned 
over  their  broods  of  white  nurslings, 
and  claimed,  with  the  mothers,  the  hearts 
and  fealty  of  their  confiding  charges. 
These  trustworthy  old  retainers,  but  a 
few  years  ago  so  universally  known  and 
loved  throughout  our  great  Southland, 
are  rapidly  being  replaced  by  a  far  less 
worthy  class,  and,  with  them,  their  quaint 
customs  are  fast  disappearing  and  their 
soul-stirring  songs  becoming  obsolete.  It 
would  seem  that  we  of  this  generation 
owe  it  to  posterity  to  see  that  the  genuine 
African  music  be  handed  down  in  all  its 
purity. 

Many  people  in  America  to-day,  not 
discerning  the  wealth  and  beauty  of  the 


true  negro  songs,  not  only  tolerate  the 
manufactured  "  coon  songs,"  but  fail  to 
recognize  their  spurious  quality,  and  per- 
mit these  attempted  imitations  with 
which  the  country  is  flooded  to  pass  un- 
challenged as  the  true  article.  Even 
poets  of  the  colored  race  are  adding  to 
this  great  wrong,  and  are  creating  a  false, 
flippant  new  song  to  be  put  into  the 
mouths  of  a  guiltless  people. 

There  are  writers  whose  vaporings  at- 
tract attention,  and  who  think  nothing  of 
composing  so-called  negro  songs  and 
passing  them  off  on  a  credulous  public, 
confident  that  their  careless  readers  can- 
not tell  the  counterfeit  from  the  genuine 
music. 

The  only  plan  which  will  effectually 
preserve  the  old  slave  music  in  all  its 
beauty,  its  power,  its  quaint  and  irresist- 
ible swing  will  be  for' the  negroes  them- 
selves, by  the  aid  of  skilled  annotists,  by 
phonographs  and  by  every  art  available, 
to  awaken  to  the  real  value  of  this  won- 


1/24 


THE    INDEPENDENT 


derful  music.  They  alone  can  work  in 
every  corner  of  the  unique  and  varied 
field,  creating  a  new  interest  among  their 
race  alike  in  their  camp  meeting  "  spirit- 
uals," the  crooning  lullabies  of  the  nur- 
sery and  the  roustabout  songs  of  the 
river. 

The  sporadic  efforts  of  a  few  far  see- 
ing negroes  will  avail  little.  The  negro 
preachers  over  the  entire  South  should 
be  encouraged  to  lead  in  this  grand  work. 
Our  judicious  praise  of  their  "  spirit- 
uals "  might  do  much  to  prolong  their 
life,  but  without  united  effort  on  our  part 


looking  to  that  end,  and  an  increased  in- 
terest and  desire  on  theirs  to  sing  those 
songs,  they  must  surely  die.  Their  songs, 
which  need  no  instrumental  aid  of  any 
kind,  are  even  now,  in  our  iconoclastic 
cities,  being  supplanted  by  hymns  from 
regular  English  hymn  books,  to  the  ac- 
companiment of  an  organ — an  innovation 
to  be  deplored,  since  this  new  singing  is 
not  to  be  compared  in  heart  power  to 
their  own  spontaneous  outpourings. 

There  never  yet  has  been  a  song  which 
could  touch  the  heart  more  in  evangelis- 
tic meetings  than  their  beautiful  "  Prod- 


de   prod -i -gal    son     he  left     liome,     by. 

2  Faddcr,  gib  mo  ma  portion  ob  goods,  by  myself,  by  myself, 
Fadder,  gib  me  ma  portion  ob  ma  goods, 

Fadder  gib  me  ma  portion  ob  goods,  by  myself. 

3  And  I'll  go  into  de  country,  by  myself,  by  myself, 
And  I'll  go  into  de  country. 

And  I'll  go  into  de  country,  by  my.self. 

4  An'  he  wasted  all  he  libbcn,  by  himself,  by  him.sclf. 
An'  he  wasted  all  he  libben. 

An'  he  wasted  all  he  libben,  by  himself. 

5  An'  de  Prodigal  Son  he  got  hungry,  by  liimself,  by  luinself, 
An'  de  Prodigal  Son  he  got  hungry, 

An'  de  Prodigal  Son  he  got  hungry,  by  himself. 

6  An'  de  Prodigal  Son  returned,  by  himself,  by  himself, 
An'  de  Prodigal  Son  returned. 

An'  de  Prodigal  Son  returned,  by  himself. 

7  Wid  no  .shoes  upon  his  feet,  by  himself,  by  himself, 
Wid  no  coat  upon  his  back, 

Wid  no  hat  upon  his  head,  by  himself. 

8  An'  de  Prodigal  Son  made  merry,  by  himself,  by  liimself, 
An'  do  Prodigal  Son  made  merr^-, 

An'  de  Prodigal  Son  made  merry,  bj'  himself. 

9  AVid  de  shoes  upon  his  feet,  by  himself,  by  him.self, 
An'  dey  put  de  rings  on  his  fingers. 

An'  dey  killed  de  fatted  calf,  by  himself. 
10  An'  dey  crucitied  my  Jesus,  by  himself,  t)y  himself, 
An'  dey  crucified  my  Jesus, 
An'  dey  crucified  my  Jesus,  by  himself. 
*11  An'  de  Prodigal  Sou  was  lonely,  by  himself,    l)y  him.sclf. 
An'  my  Je.sus  Ilim  was  lonely. 
An'  de  CnrLstian  liim  am  lonely,  by  iumself. 


^(f  If  the  leading  singer  is  in  a  hurry,  lie  will  sing  Ihree  verses  in  one. 
ited  number  of  verses. 


This  .<oiig  has  an  unllm- 


THE   TRUE   NEGRO   MUSIC  AND   ITS   DECLINE  1725 


fe^^;^ 


mi. 


^—^T^-^^- 


fj 


4— J  .    g*^ 


-f—0- 


'^^ 


t^ 


^^ 


Ole         sliip    o'       Zi 

^ — ^^ 


oil,         Ole       shii)       o'       Zi    -    on, 

/TV 


^t 


H ^ — ^ 


Hy — ^ — tv 


*  '  • 


-V 1^^ 1 1- 


te 


Ole      ship   o'        Zi    -    on,      Ole     sliip    o'     Zi  -  on,       a  -  Hal  -  le  -  lu ! 

~h— .n — S  S   • — • — 0- 
iQ  G  h-^'tf— +- — h 


5*: 


s 


^ — J^ 


izhi-z^l^ 


V-tH^^ 


5^i55fi±^=^ 


-i^ — t^ 


She's  mak-in'  fo'    a    land  -  in',  She's 


M 


-N— ^— A- 


niak-in'  fo'    a      land-  in',  She's 


Jt— ^-^H^ 


-f^ — ^■ 


i 


-N- 


,\     \ 


-!«=#= 


itzt 


-h ^^— h — I 1 ^ 


-^ — 1<- 


iit^=^ 


mak-in'fo'    a       land  -  in',  Slie's  niak-iu'   fo'     a     land-in",      a-   Hal-le  -  lu ! 


-^ ^\^^ 


t=t 


^m^ 


^^f^ 


=cp= 


tP^ 


■fci 


t>     ^^     ^-t^ 


:W: 


-P  ■  * 


-^ — ^ 


i=tt 


She's  loaded  down  with  timber.      She's 


loaded  down  witii  tim  -  ber,  Slie's 


^- 


^^ 


-A ^. 


> J>^— N- 


^.^^^^ 


loaded  down  with    tim  -  ber.  She's  loaded  down  with  tim-ber,      a-  Hal-le -In! 


^ 


It's     all    gos-  pel      tim     -    ber.  It'? 


all    gos  -  i)el     tim  -  ber,  It's 

/TV 


?=-rr^l  *— ^ 


^ — 


•— "— • — •- 


all      gos  -  pel      tim    -  ber.  It's    all      gos  -  pel    tim  -  ber,      a      Hal  -  le  -  In ' 


i 


-p^- 


-#-^—5- 


1^^ 


Git     yer  tick  -  et         read    -  y. 


Git      yer  tick  -  et        read  -  y, 


s 


^— i^^N- 


N— l- 


Dt=^ 


^ 


S^t^^E^te^ 


Git  yer  tick-  et       read  -  y.        Git  yer  tick-et     read  -  y,        a   -    Hal  -  le  -  lu ! 


m 


m 


S^^E^^ 


-#— •- 


-I — I — 0- 


fj 


Shout        trouble        o 


ber, 


Shout    trou  -  ble         o    -    ber. 


—0--^0 • H-" — J- 


Shout  trou-ble        o    -    ber,    Shout   trou-ble      o  -  ber,      a  -    Hal  -  le  -  lu  ! 


1726 


THE    INDEPENDENT 


igal  Son,"  with  its  winding,  appealing 
measures  and  soul-satisfying,  plaintive 
words,  words  which  tell  out  the  whole 
beautiful  Bible  story.  In  this  song  alone 
there  are  sometimes  rendered  fully  one 
hundred  different  verses,  all  used,  it 
would  seem,  according  to  the  mood  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  leading  singer. 

This  "  spiritual,"  like  all  of  their  oth- 
ers, is  sung  differently  in  every  locality, 
and  furthermore,  no  negro  ever  sings 
the  same  song  twice  in  just  the  same 
way. 

The  version  of  "  The  Prodigal  Son," 


singers  hit  any  note  that  comes  easiest, 
and  the  great  chorus  of  worshipers  glo- 
riously join  in  with  them,  singing  the 
remainder  of  the  tune  in  a  higher  or  a 
lower  key,  generally  a  higher. 

This  song  has  no  refrain,  which  is  a 
rarity,  for  most  of  their  "  spirituals " 
have  very  stirring  and  plaintive  refrains. 

In  the  fascinating  "  Sinners,  Yer 
Walkin'  on  er  Slender  Stran',"  the  words 
and  melody  are  used  for  the  body  of  the 
song  and  also  for  the  refrain,  the  words 
to  the  first  verse  being  repeated  for  the 
latter.      (See  below.) 


ffil 


-L^ — • — « -j — m — + — m- 


— N- 


-± 


m 


1.   Sin- nail!   yer  walk -in'    on     cr    sk-n  -    der  stnui'      Shall     T. 


^ — IV N 1 1- 

I (:5 1 0 0- 


-H-# * "——•-  • *^  -I 

-«— 0-^ ^ #-l 


Sin  -  nail!       yer  walk -in'    on     or       f<len  -  der        stran', 


ft^tepi 


-A-- 


i=iS=r 


shall     I, 


die? 


Sin-nah!  yer  walk  in'     on     cr    slen  -  der 
Hiiard. 


1-»— i— g-H-]  #-| -^ S— = -' 1 1 «- 


-#' 


Stran',   Shall     I. 


-T-^- 


t 


die"/  jMos  •  ter   .Ic    siis,  yer  made  so     sweet. 

2  Wretched  man!  jer  walkin'  on  er  slender  stran',  etc. 

3  Backslider  man!  j'er  walkin'  on  er  slender  stran',  etc. 

4  Mourner  man!  yer  walkin'  on  er  slender  stran',  etc. 


as  reproduced  on  page  1724,  is  the  one 
generally  used  at  Georgia  camp  meetings. 

All  of  their  hymns  lose  immeasurably 
by  being  taken  out  of  their  original  set- 
tings in  the  churches  and  sung  as  solos, 
and  yet  even  in  this  form  they  produce  a 
miraculous  effect  upon  the  emotions  of 
both  the  learned  and  the  ignorant. 

There  is  a  weird,  savage  "  shout," 
where  the  same  line  is  repeated  four 
times,  as  is  evidenced  in  the  song,  "  Ole 
Ship  O'  Zion,"  on  page  1725. 

The  chief  beauty  in  this  song  seems  to 
lie  in  getting  off  the  key  in  each  verse. 
The  congregation,  as  a  body,  is  incapable 
after  the  leader  sings  alone  the  first  verse 
of  getting  a  secure  hold  of  the  difficult 
diminished  seventh  occurring  in  the  note 
used  to  the  first  syllable  of  the  word 
"  Zion  "  in  the  first  line,  so  the  leading 


The  old  aunties  say  that  these  songs 
are  so  "  filled  wid  de  Holy  Sperit  "  that 
they  forget  they  are  working  if  they  just 
keep  singing  all  the  time.  No  Southern- 
er ever  doubts  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

It  is  quite  the  fashion  among  learned 
Northern  men  to  call  this  imported  Af- 
rican music  "  the  only  folk  music  of 
Ainerica."  Why  should  we  not  with 
eaual  justice  call  the  transplanted  Scotch, 
Irish  and  the  music  of  other  races  our 
American  music? 

These  melodies  certainly  were  brought 
by  the  negroes  from  the  Dark  Continent 
along  with  the  customs  and  traditions 
and  sickening  voodooism  which  are  sur- 
viving here  to-day. 

To  the  majority  of  people  the  mention 
of  a  negro  song  brings  up  instantly  vis- 
ions of  "  I  Want  Yer,  Ma  Honey,"  or 


THE    TRUE    NEGRO    MUSIC   AND    ITS    DECLINE 


1727 


"  Alabama  Coon,"  or  even  the  lovely  unappreciated  negro  "  spirituals "  for 
"Suwannee  River"  and  "Old  Kentucky  full\-  one-fifth  of  its  contents.  The  mem- 
Home  " — all  written  by  white  people  ory  and  knowledge  of  the  Bible  among 
who  are  not  so  constructed  mentally  as  the  negroes  of  the  old  school  are  simply 
to  be  able  to  write  a  genuine  negro  song,  miraculous. 

Some    of    these    imitations    are    indeed  Way  down  in  Kentucky  was  an  old 

fetching,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  none  uncle  whom  every  one  respected.  He  was 


;  =  104 


y-  \^ y- 

Dau      -      -      ii'l, Dan      -      -      iel, A   -    hong !  A  - 

H.vp   -  o-crite   iiieia  -  bers,  Hyp  -  o-crite   mem  -  hers,    A   -    hong!  A- 


-^ = ^-M 

H ^-^ 

V 

^      1     J    -^    J    J 

h* — i — r- 

1  s   ^  ^  j""   ^  !^ ; — ^   N 

gl_^^ ^^^ 

« • 

-^ 

^^jr-i^-^*     J^  /        J    J  _^- 

lionic ! 
hong  ! 


In  (le      li  -  on's  den!      I  ahi'tgwhiea  lib    in  my  sins  nolong-er! 
Oh,      God   de-spise!    I  ain'tgwiiiea   lib    in  my  sins  nolong-er! 


fi^ 


-5 — »■ 


^ 


n:    -*■ 


{huvi)  'm, 
'm , 


■•-     :s:       :? 


De 
De 


An  -  gel  flew  . 
tongue  so  keen  ! 


•Ugh! 
.Ugh! 


From  Gall  -  i  -    lee.. 
Dey    will  tell     lies! 


5^^^^S^^^ 


•^^^ — ::5s 


— V ly N \ — \-H V 

--v — V— ^-      i'^    s* p       ,\ — 


* — * — • w — r 

I    ain't  gwine  a    lib      in  mv  sins    no    long  -  er  ! 


Ugh 


-K- 


--=\- 


{hum)  'm. 


^       :S: 


De  Lamb's 


f3 


■0  0     ^^ 


^ 


m 


p^s 


s^ 


blood    done  a-wasli  me  clean!  Lamb's     blood  done  a- wash  me  clean! 


of   them    will    survive   to   work   further 
havoc  with  the  truth. 

In  questioning  great  numbers  of  ex- 
slavef  I  have  yet  to  find  one  who  does 
not  implicitly  believe  that  God  himself 
inspired  the  words  of  all  their  religious 
hymns.  If  by  any  miracle  the  Bible  were 
lost  to  us  to-day  we  could  look  to  these 


a  great  singer,  and  seemed  to  know,  as 
thousands  of  them  do,  countless  numbers 
of  these  wonderful  songs  by  heart. 
When  asked  about  the  origin  of  this  great 
and  heart  reviving  music,  which  does 
seem  to  be  so  imbued  with  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he  answered  me  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Us  old  heads  used  ter  make  'em 


1728 


THE    INDEPENDENT 


up  on  de  spurn  ob  de  moment  after  we 
wrastled  wid  de  Spirit  and  come  '  thoo/ 
but  de  tunes  was  brung  from  Africky  by 
our  own  granddaddies.  Dey  is  jis  mil- 
liair  (merely  ear)  songs.  Dese  days  dey 
calls  'em  ballotts,  but  in  de  old  days  dey 
calls  'em  '  spirituals,'  honey,  case  de 
Holy  Sperit  done  teached  'em  ter  us. 
Some  finks  Moss'  Jesus  teached  'em,  an* 
I'se  seed  'em  start  me  myself  in  de  meet- 
in'.  We'd  all  be  at  de  '  Prayers'  House ' 
on  de  Lawd's  Day  an'  de  white  preacher, 
he'd  be  hired  ter  'splain  de  Word,  and  he 
read  whar  Moss'  Zekiel  done  say  '  dry 
bones  gwine  er  lib  ergin,'  or  '  Daniel  in 
de  lion's  den  '  and  '  Chile  ob  Grace ; '  de 
Lawd  would  come  a-shinin'  thoo'  dem 
pages  an'  revibe  dis  old  nigger's  heart, 
an'  I'd  jump  up  dar  and  den  and  holler 
and  shout  and  sing  and  pray,  and  dey 
would  all  cotch  de  words,  an'  I'd  sing  it 
ter  some  old  shout  song  or  war  song  I'd 
heard  'em  sing  fum  Africky,  and  dey'd 


see  comin'  'long  now  ain't  wuth  killin' 
fer  dey  don't  keer  'bout  de  Bible  nor  de 
old  hymns  nor  nuffin.  Dey  'pletely 
spiled  wid  de  white  blood  an'  de  eddica- 
tion  an'  de  big  orgin  an'  de  white  folks' 
hymn  books,  till  it  done  tuk  all  de  Holy 
Sperit  outen  'em.  Dey  ain't  no  better 
dese  days,  wid  dere  dancin'  an'  singin' 
an'  cuttin'  up  dan  de  shoutin'  Mefodist 
white  folks  is."  (See  song  on  page  1727.) 
The  negro  by  some  mysterious  power 
does  not  take  a  breath  at  the  end  of  a 
line  or  verse,  but  carries  over  his  breath 
from  line  to  line  and  from  verse  to  verse 
at  the  imminent  risk  of  bursting  a  blood 
vessel.  He  holds  on  to  one  note  till  he 
has  a  firm  hold  of  the  next  one,  and  then 
besides  he  turns  every  monosyllabic  word 
into  two  syllables  and  places  the  accent 
where  it  does  not  belong,  on  the  last  half 
of  the  word.  An  instance  is  given  immedi- 
ately below  where  the  voice  swings  down- 
ward a  whole  octave  on  the  word  "  yes." 


J  =  Y2^ 


A,_-A-A- 


:Si=S— A- 


? 


^     N     N — ^ 


-K-» 


V 


:=t 


Ready   fo'  de  wa  -  ter  ? 
son  ? 


1. 

2.  Dis       my 

3.  Whom       I 

4.  One  more  candi  ■ 

5.  Here  goesde 

6.  Been     bap  - 

7.  He       dat 


am? 
date? 
babe ! 
tized? 
keeps — 


8.    Shall  I  hab  everlast-in  ? 


Oh, 
Oh, 
Oh, 
Ob, 
Oh, 
Oh, 
Oh, 
Oh, 


yes: 
yes  ! 
yes ! 


Heady   fo'  de  wa  -  ter  ? 
Dis       my        son  ? 

Whom      I  am  ? 

yes  I  One  moj-e  candi  -  date  ? 
yes  !      Here   goes  de  babe  ! 
yes!       Done   lef  de    world? 
yes !        He       dat       keeps — 
yes  !  Shall  I  hab  everlast-ln? 


0^ 

Oh, 

yes! 

Oh, 

yes ! 

Oh, 

yes! 

Oh, 

ves  ! 

Oh. 

yes ! 

Oh, 

yes! 

Oh, 

yes! 

Oh, 

yes! 

.  poriament 


I ^  I  y ^— 


-d — 


Eeady  fo'  de    wa  -  ter  ?  Oh, 

Dis        my         son  ?  Oh, 

Well    pleas'd     with?  Oh, 

One  more  candi  -  date  ?  Oh, 

Here  goes  de  babe  !  Oh, 

Dat     ain't  all    yit !  Oh, 

My      Commandiiients  Oh, 

Ev  -  er-last  -  in'     life  ?  Oh, 


yes  ! 
yes! 
yes  ! 
yes! 
yes ! 
yes! 
yes ! 
yes! 


Bright shines  de  day! 

Bright  shines  de  day ! 

Bright shines  de  day: 

Bright  shines  de  day : 

Bright  shines  de  day  ! 

Bright  shines  de  day ! 

Bright shines  de  day ' 

Bright shines  de  day  I 


all  take  up  de  tune  an' keep  long  at  it, an' 
each  time  dey  sing  it  dey  keep  a-addin' 
mo'  an'  mo'  verses  ter  it,  an'  den  dar  it 
would  jis  natchully  be  a  '  spiritual.'  Dese 
'  spirituals  '  am  de  purtiest  moanin'  mu- 
sic in  de  whole  world,  case  dey  is  de 
whole  Bible  sung  out  and  out.  Notes  is 
good  nufif  fer  you  people,  but  us  likes  a 
mixtery.     Dese   young   ladies  what   we 


With  great  ecstasy  they  throw  their 
wliole  souls  and  bodies  into  the  singings 
of  each  hymn,  and  seem  carried  away  for 
the  time  being  by  the  potent  spell  which 
each  song  casts  over  one  and  all. 

A  marked  peculiarity  of  the  negro 
singing  is  that  very  often  in  the  heat  of 
their  religious  fervor  they  will  repeat 
again  and  again  the  same  verses. 


THE    TRUE    NEGRO    MUSIC   AND    ITS    DECLINE 


1729 


In  studying  this  music  one  finds  that 
each  verse  is  usually  composed  of  one 
statement,  frequently  a  crude  attempt  at 
a  Bible  quotation,  repeated  three  times. 
Occasionally,  however,  the  same  line  is 
repeated  but  twice  at  the  beginning  and 
again  as  a  last  line  to  each  stanza.  An 
instance  of  this  exception  occurs  in  the 
hymn, 
'  I  Don't  Want  er  be  Buried  in  de  Storm." 


in  these  there  is  pretty  apt  to  be  a 
change  into  the  major  key  before  the 
hymn  is  finished. 

Many  Northern  people  think  that  if 
they  say  "  Lordy  Massa,"  letting  the 
voice  rise  at  the  end,  they  have  made 
great  strides  in  mastering  the  negro  dia- 
lect. There  cannot  be  found  many  ex- 
amples of  the  employment  of  this  rising 
inflection   either   in   speech   or   in   song. 


1.  I...  don't  want    er  bebur-ied     in       dc  storm,  in       de   storm,.... 


_^  ^- 


fv — N- 


-#— # 


I    don't  want   er 

be  bur 

-  ied     in        d 

■  storm, 

in 

de  .storm. . .  . 

Kkfr.\in. 

r, 

V  1 

^ 

^ 

y     h     F           P             ' 

m 

^ 

■  ;^ 

;>                > 

> 

^^  "^    1          r 

1               *    • 

Li       '^         ' ^ 

*< 

'  9  - 

m           m 

* 

Some  -  times        my      troub  -  les      make 


trem  -  ble,       trem  -  ble, 


trem 


be    bur  -  ied 


storm. 


2  I  dont  want  ter  cross  de  red  sea  by  myself,  by  myself, 

I  dont  want  ter  cross  de  red  sea  by  myself,  by  my.self. — Ref. 

3  Dont  you  lieali  dem  ho.s.ses  feet, 

Slippin'  an  er  slidin'  on  de  golden  street? — Ref. 

4  When  I  gits  on  ma  golden  shoes, 

Gwine  trot  about  Hebben  and  shout  de  news. — Ref. 

5  Some  .say  Peter,  an  er  some  .say  Paul, 
Alut  but  one  Gawd  sabe  us  all. — Ref. 

Note.— Fi'fquently  sung  while  washing  windows. 


Since  this  hymn  is  not  infrequently 
employed  by  servants  while  washing 
windows,  an  interested  listener  has  a  fine 
opportunity  to  catch  every  syllable  and 
typical  quirk,  for  we  all  know  that  the 
negro  servant,  if  left  alone  to  "  sing  and 
git  happy,"  will  occupy  an  hour  or  more 
in  the  cleaning  of  a  single  window. 

It  is  often  stated  that  there  is  a  con- 
tinuous note  of  sadness  running  through 
all  the  negro  music,  and  that  the  songs 
are  usually  in  minor  keys.  I  should  say,  on 
the  contrary,  that  the  majority  of  them 
are  in  the  major  keys,  and  that  there  is 
a  ring  of  jollity,  wild  abandon  and  uni- 
versal happiness  in  most  of  them.  There 
are  doleful  passages  occurring  occasion- 
ally, and  some  sad  minor  songs,  but  even 


This  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
Irish  race,  while,  on  the  contrary,  we  find 
the  old  aunties  and  uncles  repeatedly 
dropping  the  voice  even  two  octaves. 
An  example  of  this  is  given  on  page  1730, 
in  that  most  fascinating  of  all  their 
lullabies,  "  A  Christmas  Song." 
"  Mary,  What  Yer  Gwine  er  Name  Dat 
Purty  Leetle  Baby  ?  " 
The  old  maniiny  did  not  quite  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  that  verse  in  Isaiah 
(9,  6)  where  he  says:  "And  the  gov- 
ernment shall  be  upon  his  shoulder."  So 
she  reasons  it  out  that  some  one  is  rid- 
ing the  baby  Jesus  on  her  shoulders  and 
"  calling  Him  dare  Governor."  It  is  a 
pretty  conceit,  the  way  she  carries  out 
the  whole  touching  song. 


I730 


THE    INDEPENDENT 


We  can  easily  imagine  inquisitive 
shepherds  and  adoring  wise  men  asking 
the  Virgin  Mary  what  she  intends  to 
name  her  precious  little  baby.  We  can 
see  her  hesitate,  since  she  had  been  told 
he  was  to  be  called  "  Jesus,"  "  Son  of 
God  "  and  also  "  Son  of  the  Highest." 
So  the  mammy  thinks,  with  all  these 
prophecies  concerning  the  naming  of 
the  baby,  it  must  be  finally  left  with  the 


They  surely  must  have  some  occult  te- 
lepathy among  them,  for  they  never  make 
mistakes — viz.,  some  singing  one  verse 
and  some  another. 

The  old  slave  loved  best  the  miracu- 
lous points  and  dramatic  passages  in  the 
Bible,  and  if  the  negro  could  be  trained 
along  his  natural  lines,  and  his  race  blood 
kept  perfectly  pure,  there  would  come 
some  day   from  this  people  one  of  the 


2  Mary,  what  yer  gwine  er  name  dal.  jnirty  lectlc  baby? 
Uiii,  (iat  jniily  lectlc  baby? 

Um,  liat  piirty  leetle  baby? 

Glory  be  to  yer  new-bawn  King! — Ref. 

3  Some  calls  'Im  one  ting,   I  link  I'll  call  'Im  Jesus, 
Um,  I  fink  I'll  call  'Im  Jesus, 

Um,  I  link  I'll  call  'Im  Jesus, 

Glory  be  to  ray  new-bawn  King! — Ref. 

4  Some  calls  I'm  one  ting,  I  link  I'll  call  I'm  'Manuel, 
Um,  I  link  I'll  call  I'm  ']\Ianuel, 

Um,  I  link  I'll  call  I'm  Manuel, 
Glory  be  to  my  new-bawn  King! — Ref. 
f)  Dey's   ridin'  'Im  on  dare  shoulders  and  callin'  'Im  dare  Governor! 
Um,  and  callin'  'Im  dare  Governor! 
Um,  and  callin'  'Im  dare  Governor! 
Glory  be  to  my  new-bawn  King! — Rep. 

6  Mary,  what  yer  gwine  cr  name  dat  purty  leetle  baby? 
Um,  dat  purty  leetle  baby? 

Um,  dat  jnirty  leetle  baby? 

Glory  be  to  yer  new-bawn  King! — Ref. 

7  Um,  I  link  Ise  gwine  cr  call  'Im  Free  Salvation, 
Um,  Free  Salvation, 

Um,  Free  Salvation, 

Glory  be  to  my  new-baw^n  King! — Ref. 

N.  E.— Note  two  peculiarities  of  negro  liymnology;  viz.  tlie  repetition  of  the  same  line  three 
times,  ami  the  occasional  tran.sposition  of  a  few  bars  to  a  lower  or  higher  octave. 


Blessed  Mary  to  decide.  The  negroes 
will  sing  a  great  many  answers  to  this 
most  natural  question,  giving  the  in- 
numerable names  by  which  the  Son  of 
God  was  called  until  the  satisfactory 
name  is  reached,  which  distinguishes 
Christianity  from  all  ther  religions. 

They  all  seem  to  know  by  the  most  won- 
derful instinct  every  "  spiritual  "  which 
was  ever  born.  Let  a  colored  stranger 
from  Kentucky  go  to  a  Louisiana  church 
and  begin  to  sing  a  new  song ;  none  of 
those  present  may  ever  have  heard  this 
song,  and  yet  in  a  few  moments  they  are 
all  singing  and  patting  it  like  mad,  and 
the  inost  singular,  inexplicable  thing 
about  it  is  that  each  member  of  the  con- 
gregation seems  to  know  almost  to  a  man 
as  quickly  as  the  singer  himself  exactly 
what  words  he  is  going  to  sing.  No 
"  lining  out  "  is  ever  practiced  in  their 
singing;  only  with  the  "hymn  book 
hymns  "  is  this  quaint  custom  followed. 


greatest  orators,  one  of  the  greatest  ac- 
tors, one  of  the  greatest  romance  writ- 
ers, and  surely  the  very  greatest  musi- 
cian who  ever  lived. 

But  side  by  side  with  the  too  highly 
civilized  white  race  the  negro  must  in 
time  have  eliminated  from  him  all  his 
God-given  best  instincts  and  so  fail  ut- 
terly. For  are  they  not  already  ashamed 
in  our  large  cities  of  their  old  African 
music?  They  should  be  taught  that 
slavery,  with  its  occasional  abuses,  was 
simply  a  valuable  training  in  their  evolu- 
tion from  savagery,  and  not  look  upon 
their  bondage  and  their  slave  music  with 
shame.  For  during  that  period  these 
songs  could  develop  because  the  negro 
was  kept  in  such  perfect  segregation,  and 
his  instincts  and  talents  had  full  play. 
He  received  then  those  things  which  he 
needed  most — viz.,  work  for  his  hands 
and  God's  revealed  Word  for  his  hea't 
and  mind. 

Nbw  York  City. 


